A special dinner for a special Autunn evening in San Miniato Tuscany. Here is the menu we cooked and shared together on the final night of the first-ever Pink Pelican group tour to Northern Italy. Recipes are below, but first, if you are at all interested in small group travel and adventures with like-minded women| Local is Lovely
Last school holidays, on a freezing winter's day, my Mum Annie, daughter Alice and I got to play dress-ups and put on a Spring-themed lunch for Goondiwindi Cotton. Photographer Monique Lovick came along and captured the morning (beautifully, as she always does - thank you, Mon); we made a sponge and a quiche and pretended we weren't Greens galette and rhubarb sponge for Goondiwindi Cotton. Hello Spring!| Local is Lovely
Last Saturday, the loveliest group came out to the farm for one of our monthly cooking classes. We spent a few hours making lunch together then sat down to enjoy it and it was, for me at least (and I hope for our participants!), a lovely day. Here are some photos and recipes. Overnight focaccia| Local is Lovely
Fig leaves are my new favourite ingredient; they lend a beautiful floral, almost coconut-y flavour to baking, custards etc. Here are some recipes that put them to good use; a fig leaf and almond loaf cake and a baked ricotta wrapped in fig leaves. I have made both a few times (at the below lunch| Local is Lovely
UPCOMING EVENTS! With my new book almost out in the world, I've been working on a bunch of events around its launch, starting with the below. More in the pipeline, will add as details are confirmed. And in the meantime, if you would like to pre-order my book please click here or call your local Launch events for my new book What Can I Bring.| Local is Lovely
Nectarine and blackberry pie Serves 8–10Prep time: 20 minsCook time: 40 mins I feel very lucky to be able to share this recipe here. It comes via my friend Amber, whose husband Derek took the mantle of making it for every family gathering soon after joining her family. The original version of this recipe appears| Local is Lovely
Morning peach buns with amaretto glaze This is the sort of glorious, delicious breakfast I dream of making on those slow, hazy mornings between Christmas and New Year, when you forget what day it is, when the house is quiet again and there’s time to potter in the kitchen. Have these ready to go overnight| Local is Lovely
I'm big on 'flavour bombs'. I love having a stash of crunchy, pickled, salty, sweet and tasty things to pull out at lunch or dinner to pep up a plain bowl of brown rice and greens or a boiled egg, or add a bit of punch and colour to a big spicy curry. Here are| Local is Lovely
Overnight Focaccia (instant yeast version) This recipe borrows heavily from my sourdough focaccia recipe, except of course, we're using instant yeast, not sourdough which is super handy. The long, cold fermentation time builds a beautiful chewy, sour flavour I love. It's not like that sweet, almost cakey focaccia that the nineties threw at us for| Local is Lovely